# P. G. JOSHI AND ORS, ETC. ETC v. THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS, NJ::W · DELHI, ETC. September 20, ·1974

- **Citation:** [1975] 2 S.C.R. 115
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1972-04-28
- **Case number:** Writ Petitions Nos. 1649, 1993 of 1973
- **Bench:** A. N. Ray, K. K. Mathew, Y. v. CHANDRACHUD, A. Alao!R!• Swami, A. C. Gupta Jj
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/p-g-joshi-and-ors-etc-etc-v-the-director-general-posts-and-telegraphs-nj-w-6281
- **Pages:** 8

## Headnote

Posts a11d Teleg1·apli.1 Ma1111al Vol 4 (Estab/is/1111e11ts) r, 219/4-Scopc ofTest for
·s~parate Cadre'-'Rotational Tra11sfer'. meaning of,
Certain clerks in the Posts and Telegraphs Department, were selected and
appointed as Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors under rules
279 /4 promulgated by the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs. ·When
the incumbents of th~se posts were brought back to their original posts after
·the ·expiry of 3 years as . provided in the rule, they contended that the Government of India, by their d.ecision dated November .15, 1958, deleted the
posts of Wireless Licence and Inspectors from the list of teniire posts and
that therefore they became entitled to hold the posts without ~ny-Jimit subject
to the condition that they may be transferred from one place to another
according to what is calleg the rule for rotational transfers.
D
Rejecting the contention,
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HELD : The Director General of Posts and Telegraphs was competent to
pa:ss the rule and it is not in any way inconsistent with the decision of the
Government of India. (122 B-C]
/
(a) The posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors were
removecj from the list of tenure posts because, they. not bein$ pernianent
posts, d•d not fall within the (jefinition of 'tenure posts'. The deletion was not
on account of any decision· .of the Government of India to make the appointments of incumbent's of those posts permanent.
[119 F-G]
(b) There is no provision for constituting the posts into separate cadres.
There is nothing to show that they have been sanctioned as separate units.
No separate time scale has been provided for Wireless Licence Inspectors
and Town Inspectors, and the time-scale clerks, who were appointed to the
posts, continued in the same time scale of pay of cltrks. They wer" entitled
to a speci.al pay in addition to t.he time .scale pay of clerk, and thi~ show~ that
they continue m the cadre of time-seal.!' clerks and were not constituted mto a
separate cadre of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors.. The
appointments were not transfers from one cadre to another or promotion from
a lower to a higher cadre or from a lower to higher post. Though for
ditectly recruited Wireless Licence Inspectors there is an avenue of promotion
from these posts to those of Wireless Investigating Inspectors, there is no such·
avenue for Wireless Licence Inspectors appointed from amongst time scale
c'erks, their avenues of promotion being from their substantive posts of time·
scale clerks. Therefore, the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors are only
in the cadre of time-scale clerks carrying a special pay on.account of additional
work. (120 D-E, G-121 Bl
(c) The mention of these posts or the specification of their p:iy along with
those of the time:scale clerks in the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay)
Third .Amendment Rules, 1973, wouM not show that the. posts were separnte
cadre posts. (121 B.C]
(d) The 4irection in the decision of the Government of India to include
the posts among the posts mentioned in r. 60 of Chap. 11 of the Posts and
Telegraphs Manual,
by amendinit the rule was not intended to confer on the
incumbents the right to hold them till superannuation. [ 121 DJ
116
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] 2. s.c.R-.
(i) Rule 60 does not speak of rotational tra.ns.fers. It only provides that
posts included under the rule 'should not be_ occupied by the same officials
continuously for more than the period shown against each'. It docs not also
deal with the places in which an incumbent. could be rotated. The purpose
of including these posts among those covered )ly r. 60 was not to affect the
term of employment of the Wireless Licence lnspectors and Town Inspectors,
but only to provide that they can-occupy the post& only for the period specified,
namely, 3 years at a time. [121 E-F; 122 A-CJ
(ii) Assuming_ the rule deals with rotational transfers and the expression
'rotational transfer' means transfer from one place to

## Text

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115
P. G. JOSHI AND ORS, ETC. ETC.
v.
THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS, NJ::W
·
DELHI, ETC.
September 20, ·1974
[A. N. RAY, C.J., K. K. MATHEW, Y. v. CHANDRACHUD, A. ALAO!R!•
SWAMI AND A. C. GUPTA JJ,]
Posts a11d Teleg1·apli.1 Ma1111al Vol 4 (Estab/is/1111e11ts) r, 219/4-Scopc ofTest for
·s~parate Cadre'-'Rotational Tra11sfer'. meaning of,
Certain clerks in the Posts and Telegraphs Department, were selected and
appointed as Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors under rules
279 /4 promulgated by the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs. ·When
the incumbents of th~se posts were brought back to their original posts after
·the ·expiry of 3 years as . provided in the rule, they contended that the Government of India, by their d.ecision dated November .15, 1958, deleted the
posts of Wireless Licence and Inspectors from the list of teniire posts and
that therefore they became entitled to hold the posts without ~ny-Jimit subject
to the condition that they may be transferred from one place to another
according to what is calleg the rule for rotational transfers.
D
Rejecting the contention,
E
F
G
H
HELD : The Director General of Posts and Telegraphs was competent to
pa:ss the rule and it is not in any way inconsistent with the decision of the
Government of India. (122 B-C]
/
(a) The posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors were
removecj from the list of tenure posts because, they. not bein$ pernianent
posts, d•d not fall within the (jefinition of 'tenure posts'. The deletion was not
on account of any decision· .of the Government of India to make the appointments of incumbent's of those posts permanent.
[119 F-G]
(b) There is no provision for constituting the posts into separate cadres.
There is nothing to show that they have been sanctioned as separate units.
No separate time scale has been provided for Wireless Licence Inspectors
and Town Inspectors, and the time-scale clerks, who were appointed to the
posts, continued in the same time scale of pay of cltrks. They wer" entitled
to a speci.al pay in addition to t.he time .scale pay of clerk, and thi~ show~ that
they continue m the cadre of time-seal.!' clerks and were not constituted mto a
separate cadre of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors.. The
appointments were not transfers from one cadre to another or promotion from
a lower to a higher cadre or from a lower to higher post. Though for
ditectly recruited Wireless Licence Inspectors there is an avenue of promotion
from these posts to those of Wireless Investigating Inspectors, there is no such·
avenue for Wireless Licence Inspectors appointed from amongst time scale
c'erks, their avenues of promotion being from their substantive posts of time·
scale clerks. Therefore, the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors are only
in the cadre of time-scale clerks carrying a special pay on.account of additional
work. (120 D-E, G-121 Bl
(c) The mention of these posts or the specification of their p:iy along with
those of the time:scale clerks in the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay)
Third .Amendment Rules, 1973, wouM not show that the. posts were separnte
cadre posts. (121 B.C]
(d) The 4irection in the decision of the Government of India to include
the posts among the posts mentioned in r. 60 of Chap. 11 of the Posts and
Telegraphs Manual,
by amendinit the rule was not intended to confer on the
incumbents the right to hold them till superannuation. [ 121 DJ
116
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] 2. s.c.R-.
(i) Rule 60 does not speak of rotational tra.ns.fers. It only provides that
posts included under the rule 'should not be_ occupied by the same officials
continuously for more than the period shown against each'. It docs not also
deal with the places in which an incumbent. could be rotated. The purpose
of including these posts among those covered )ly r. 60 was not to affect the
term of employment of the Wireless Licence lnspectors and Town Inspectors,
but only to provide that they can-occupy the post& only for the period specified,
namely, 3 years at a time. [121 E-F; 122 A-CJ
(ii) Assuming_ the rule deals with rotational transfers and the expression
'rotational transfer' means transfer from one place to another and from one
division to another, since the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town
Inspectors form part and parcel of the Clerical Cadrn they will be rotated only
in clerical posts which are in the same· cadre. [l21G]
(iii) But, the expression 'rotational transfer' does not mean transfer from
one pl ace to another or from division to another in the same posi. It means
transfer from one post to another and that after the incumbent has spent some
time in the post to which he has been transferred, he should be brought back
to the original post, and that is precisely what has been done in the present
case. (121 G-HJ
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petitions Nos. 953-958, 787-797,
835, 858, 1055, 1121-1127, 1168, 2029, 2052 of 1973 and 107-108,
42, 45, 46 of 1974.
Petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India.
AND
Writ Petitions Nos. 1649, 1993 of 1973 and 58-62, 64-65 & 282
of 1974.
Petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India.
AND
CIVIL APPEALS Nos .. 467 and 713 of 1973.
From the judgment & Oirder dated the 4th August/28th April, 1972
of the Patna High Court in C.W. Jurisdiction Cases Nos. i679 &
1610170.
AND
CIVIL APPEAL No. 1421 of 1973.
Appeal by special Ieav<: from the judgment and order dated the
10th October, 1972 of the Orissa High Court in OJC. No. 473 of
1971.
AND
CIVIL APPEAL Nos. 1718 to 1821 of 1972.
From the judgment and order dated the 1st March, 1972· of the
Madras High Court in W.As. Nos. 557-559 and 591 of 1971.
AND
CIVIL APPEAL Nos. 366 to 371 of 1973.
From the Judgment and order dated the 15th January, 1972 of
the Kerala High Court in C.W.As. Nos. 116, 136, 159, 158, 157 and
79/1972.
AND
CrvIL APPEALS Nos. 82.1-823 and 1782-1'!,33 of 1973,
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p, Q, JOSHI v. DIRECTOR p & T (Mathew, !.)
117
S. S. Khanduja, for the petitioners (In W.Ps. 954-58173.)
S. K lain, for the petitioner (In W.P. 953173)
A. K. Sen, and S. K. Bisaria, for the petitioner (In W.Ps. 787-97,
835, 858173, 1186 & 1192174 and for appellants (In CAs. 821-23,
1792-93173)
A. K. Sen, Hardayal Hardy,,K. K. Sinha, S. K. Sinha, S. K. Bisaria,
S. S. Khanduja, K. D. Naranjan and B. B. Sinha, for the petitioners
W.Ps. Nos. 1649 & 1993173, 58-62, 64-65174, 282174, 1055, 2029,
2052/73, 107, 108, 45-46174 and for respondents (in C.As. 467, 713/
73) and for respondents 2-5 and 7 (In C.A. )421173.)
H. B. Datar, R. B. Datar and A. S. Nambiar, for the petitioners
(in W.PS. Nos. 1121-27173) and for appellants (In C.As. 366-71/
74).
. F. S. Narima11, Additional Solicitor General for India, for respond~nts (In W.Ps. 953 & 787173, 1055/73 and C.As. 1718172, 713
& 1421173, :69/74 & 825/73).
G. L. Singhi, for respondents (In W.Ps. 953 & 787173 and C.A.
No. 1718172.)
S. P. Nayar and M. N. Shroff, for the appellants (In C.As. 467,
E
713 & 1421173), 1718-1721172 and for respondents (In W.Ps. 953958,-787-797, 835, 858, 1055, 1121-1127, 1186-1192, 2029, 2052/
. 73, 107, 108, 42, 45, 46/74, 1649, 1993173, 58-62, 64, 65, & 282/
74) and respondents (In C.As. 1421 /73, 366-371174, 821-823, 1792,
1793173).
K. S. Ramamurthy and A, 1'. M. Sampath, for respondents (In
F
C. As. 1718-1821 of 72).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
MATHEW, J.-In all these writ petitions and civil appeals, the question for consideration is practically the same. They are, therefore,
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disposed of by this common judgment.
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We will take up for consideration Civil Appeals No. 366-371 of
1974, 821-823, 1792, 1793 of 1973 and 1718-1721 of 1972.
The appellants in Civil Appeals No. 366-371 of 1974, 821-823,
1792, 1793 of 1973 and the respondents in 1718-1721 of 1972 were
working as clerks in the Posts and Telegraphs
~epartmcnt. . The
appellants ~ntioned above were selected and appomted as Wlfel~ss
Licence Inspectors.
The selections were made m . accordance with
the provisions of rule 279/ 4 of the Posts and Telegraphs Manual,
118
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975) 2 s.c.R.
Vol. IV (Establishments). The rule was promulgated by the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs with effect from March 1, 1967.
The rule stated that appointments to the post of Wireless Licence
Inspectors in any Division are to be made from amongst the . clerks
working in the Division subject to certain exceptions. The rule prescribes the conditions of eligibility and also of the necessity to pass a.
written test and then it provides :
"An official appointed as Wireless Licence Inspector
shall not ordinarily be allowed to hold such a post for more
than 3 years continuousLy at one time.
An official who has
worked as Wireless Licence Inspector for 3 years continuous·
ly should not ordinarily be appointed to hold ·such a post
within the next three years. The period of tenure shall not
be extended in any case except on very strong administrative grounds and the prior approval of the Director-General
should be obtained."
The contention of these appellants before the High Courts was
that rule 279/4 is opposed to the latter part of the decision of the
Government of India dated November 15, 1958 dealing, among other
things, with the post of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors.
The contention of the respondents in Civil Appeals No. 1718·
1721 of 1972 was that, though they were selected and appointed as
Town Inspectors under 27913 promulgated by the Director General
of Posts and Telegraphs for a period of three years, they were made
permanent in the posts by virtue of the aforesaid decision of the Gov·
ernment of India. That decision reads :
"Indian Posts & Telegrap~s Department
(Office of the Director General, Post & Telegraphs)
Dated New Delhi, the 15th November. 1958.
To
All Heads of Circles
SUBJJ,CT : Removal of certain posts from the list of tenure
posts included in para 6 of the
Manual
of
appointments and allowances.
The President has decided that the post of (i) clerks
and I-J.ead Postman at Port Blair Head Office, (ii) clerks
in Port Blair Radio Office, (iii) Wireless Licence Inspectors,
(iv) H.S.G. Sorting Inspectors and Assistant Superintenuents, R.M.S., (v) Town Inspectors of Post Offices men·
tioned in iteins 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15 respectively of the list
of tenure posts in this paragraph should be deleted. These
posts should, however, be treated like other posts for which
the rotational transfers are prescri~d, the period of stay
of ea1:h official being limited to 4 years in the case. of H.S.G.
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p, G. JOSHI v. DIRECTOR p & T (Mathew, I.)
119
Sorting InspectO{s (now called Sorting Assistant Superinten·
dents) and Assistant Superintendents, R.M.S. and 3 years
in the case of others."
"Necessary amendments to rule 60 of the P & T
Manual, Vol. IV, will issue in due course."
The appellants i_n Civil Appeals Nos. 366-371 of 1974, 821-823,
1792, 1793 of 1973 and the respondents in 1718-1721 of 1972 sub·
milted that since, by the decision of the Government of India, the
posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors were deleted
from the list of tenure posts, they b,ecame entitled to hold the posts
without any limit of time subject to the condition that they may be
transferred from one place to another according to what is called the
rule for rotational transfers.
The decision of the Government of India, did two things. It de·
leted the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Insp~ctors
from the list of tenure posts.
It directed that the posts of Wireless
Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors be treated like other posts for
which rotational transfers are prescribed.
It is seen from paragraph 6 of the Manual of Appointments and
Allowances of Officers of the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department that both the. posts of Wireless Licence lnsp~ctor and Town
Inspector of Post Offices were included in the list of tenure posts.
A 'tenure post' is defined in Fundamental Rule 9(30-A) as follows:
"A 'tenure post' means a permanent post which an individual Government servant rriay not hold for more than a limited period.''
Neither the post of Wireless Licence Inspector nor that of Town
Inspector answers this definition.
That apart, the inclusion of these
posts in the list of tenure posts created administrative difficulties. That
is clear from the files and notings referred to in the Judgment of the
Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) in special Civil Applications
No. 1 and 240 of 1973 decided on September 15, 1973. It would.
therefore, appear that the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and
Town Inspectors were removed from the list of tenure posts because
they. not being permanent posts, did nM fall within the definition of
'tenure
po~ts'. The deletion was not on account of anv decision
by the Government of India to m::t~e the appointments of the incumbents of these posts permanent. If that had been the decision, the
language would havl';; been different.
It was contended that the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors
and Town Inspectors constitute separate cadres.
Paragraph 50 of the Manual of Appointments and Allowances ·
stat·~s that the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors are, from the 7th
December, 1945, filled from among the post office clerks in the Circle
and ckrks of the Wireless Section of the Circle offices on the Post
Office scales of pay, and that these officials wi!~, when they work as
Wireless Licence Inspectors, draw pay in their own scale (Post Office
120
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] 2 s.c.R.
scale Rs. 60-~0-120-EB-50-170) and will, in addition,
be
granted special pay, as provided in paragraph 51 ( 17). Paragraph
51(2) states that the Governor General in Council has ordered that
the posts ·of Town Inspectors attached to General Pos.t Office and other
First Class Head Post Offices will be filled by selection from amongst
ordinary time-scale clerks belonging· to the respective General Post
Office or First Class Head Post Office group, and that these ordinary
time-scale clerks, while actually holding the posts of Town Inspectors
specified abov·~ will draw a special pay of Rs. 30/- per month under
Fundamental Rule 9(25 )(a) in addition to pay in their own tim~
scale.
Paragraph 51 (17) states that Post Office Clerks in the Circle
and clerks of the Wireless Section of Circle offices on the Post Office
scales of pay, appointed to work as Wireless Licence Inspectors after
the 7th December, 1945., may draw in addition to pay i._n their own
clerical time scales, a special pay of Rs. 30/- a month under F.R.
9 (25 )(a) and (b).
No specific provision for constituting the posts of Wireless Licence
Inspector or Town Inspectors into separate cadres was broug(lt to
our notice. 'Cadre' is defined in Fundamental Rule 9( 4) to mean :
"Cadre means the strength of a service or a part of a service sanctioned as separate unit".
There are no materials to hold that the posts of Wireless Licence
Inspector and Town Inspector have been sanctioned as separate units.
No separat·~ time scale has been provided for Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors and, the time-scale clerks who. were appointed to these posts, continued in the same time scale of pay of clerks.
As already stated, on appointment as Wireless Licence Inspectors and
Town Inspectors, they were entitled to a special pay pf Rs. 30 /- per
month.
'Special pay' has been defined in Fundamental Rule 9(25)
thus:
·'Special pay means, an addition, of th~ nature of pay,
to the emoluments of a post or of a Government servant,
granted in consideration of
(al the specially arduous nature of the duties; or
(b) a specific addition to the work or responsibility; or
( c) the unhealthiness of the locality in which
the
work is performed."
The provision for payment of a special pay of Rs. 301- in addition to the time scale pay of clerks is inconsistent with the constitution of a separate cadr'e of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town
Inspectors. The provision for special pay shows that they continue
in the cadre of time-scale clerks. Appointment as Wireless Licence
Inspectors or Town Inspec:tors is not a case of transfer from one
cadre to another or a case of promotion from a lower cadre to a
higher cadre or from a lower post to a higher post. Though, for directly recruited Wireless Licence Inspectors, there is an avenue of promotion from those posts to the posts of Wireless Investigating Inspectors, no such avenue of promotion has been shown to exist for
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JI. G. JOSfil v. DIRECTOR P & T (Mathew, /,)
121
Wireless Licence Inspectors appointed from amongst time:scale clerks.
Their avenues of promotion are from their substantive pqsts of time- ·
scale cler~~. The posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors to . which ·
time-scal·e clerks are appointed by selection did not constitute a separate ca~re and the appointments are not by way of promotion.
The
posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors are in the cadre of time-scale
clerks and carry a special pay on account of additional work.
Th! mention of the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors or the
specification of the pay of the Wireless Licence Inspec-ors along with
those of the time-scale clerks in the Central Civil Services (Revised
Pay) Third Amendment RulesJ 1973, which came into force on January 1, 1973, .wo11ld not show that the posts· of Wireless Licence Inspectors were separate cadre posts.
·
It was then contended that the decision of the Government of India
was that th·e posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors
should be treated like other posts for which rotational transfers are
prescribed and that, by that deCision, it was directed that these posts
should be included among the posts mentioned in rule 60 of Chapter
11 of the Posts and Telegraphs Maqual, Vol. IV, bty amending the
rule. • It was, therefore, submitted that the decision of the Governm-ent of India was clearly intended to confer on the incumbents of
the posts the title to hold them till their superannuation.
A reference to rule 60 would make it clear that it does not speak
of rotational transfers. All that the rule provides is that posts included
under the rule "should not be occupied by the same officials continuE
ously for more than the. period showrt against each." But, as the
.decision of the Government dated November.-15, 1.958 directs that
these posts should be included under rule 60 and since the decision is
that these posts should be treated like other posts for which rotational
transfors are prescribed, we will proceed on the assumption that that
rule deals with rotational transfers. But what follows ? · The diction-
. ary meaning of 'rotational' is : regular and recurring; ~uccession in
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office or duties.
An element of rotation must be involved in rotational transfer. But what is the rotation. if this submission js accepted? . It was submitted that the expression 'rotational transfer' means
· transfer from one p1ace to another place and from one division to
another division, but in the same cadre.
Even if the submission is
accepted, it would not in any way change the position, for, as we
have already seen, the posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town
G . Inspectors form part and· parcel of . the clerical cadre and,: therefore,
they will be rotated . only in clerical posts which are in the
same cadre. ·Nor do we think that the expression 'rotational
transfer' means transfer from one place to another or from one .division to another but in the same post. Jn our view, the expression,
in the context, can only mean transfer from one post to another and,
after the member has spent some time in the post ·to which he has
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been. transferred, he should be brought back to the original post.
This would involve an element of rotation and this is precisely what
has been done in the present case, namely, that the incumbents of the
posts of Wireless Licence Inspectors and Town Inspectors are being
122
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] 2 s.c.R.
brought back to their original posts after the expiry of the period,
namely, 3 years. As we sa1id, Rule 60 only says that the posts included therein should not ordinarily be occupied by the same officials
. continuously for more than the period shown against each. It does
not deal with the places in }l'hich an incumbent could be rotated.
The expression 'rotational transfer' has nothing to do with the right
of the incumbents to hold die posts permanently.
The purpose of
including these posts arnonrJ the posts covered by Rule 60 was not
to affect the term of employment of the Wireless Licence Inspectors
and Town Inspectors, but only to provide that they can occupy the
posts only for the period specified, namely, 3 ye~rs at a time. The
Director General of Posts and Telegraph~ was competent to pass rule
279 /4 and it is not in any way inconsistent with the decision of the
Government of India dated November 15, 1958.
The iresult is that Civil Appeals Nos. 467, 713, 1421 of 1973 and
1718-1721 of 1972 have to be allow(!d and Civil Appeals Nos. 821823, 1792, 1793 of 1973, 366-371 of 1974 and the Writ Petitions
·have to be dismissed and we do so. We make no order as to costs.
V.P.S.
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